Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fri·ar       (frī'ər)  Pronunciation Key  n.   Abbr. Fr. A member of a usually mendicant Roman Catholic order. [Middle English frere, from Old French, from Latin frāter, brother; see bhrāter- in Indo-European roots.] fri'ar·ly adj.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
friar 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

friar

noun

a male member of a religious order that originally relied solely on alms

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Friar

Broth"er\ (br[u^][th]"[~e]r), n.; pl. Brothers (br[u^][th]"[~e]rz) or Brethren (br[e^][th]"r[e^]n). See Brethren. [OE. brother, AS. br[=o][eth]or; akin to OS. brothar, D. broeder, OHG. pruodar, G. bruder, Icel. br[=o][eth]ir, Sw. & Dan. broder, Goth. br[=o][thorn]ar, Ir. brathair, W. brawd, pl. brodyr, Lith. brolis, Lett. brahlis, Russ. brat', Pol. & Serv. brat, OSlav. bratr[u^], L. frater, Skr. bhr[=a]t[.r], Zend bratar brother, Gr. fra`thr, fra`twr, a clansman. The common plural is Brothers; in the solemn style, Brethren, OE. pl. brether, bretheren, AS. dat. sing. br[=e][eth]er, nom. pl. br[=o][eth]or, br[=o][eth]ru. [root]258. Cf. Friar, Fraternal.]

1. A male person who has the same father and mother with another person, or who has one of them only. In the latter case he is more definitely called a half brother, or brother of the half blood.

Two of us in the churchyard lie, My sister and my brother. --Wordsworth.

2. One related or closely united to another by some common tie or interest, as of rank, profession, membership in a society, toil, suffering, etc.; -- used among judges, clergymen, monks, physicians, lawyers, professors of religion, etc. "A brother of your order." --Shak.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers, For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother. --Shak.

3. One who, or that which, resembles another in distinctive qualities or traits of character.

He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster. --Prov. xviii. 9.

That April morn Of this the very brother. --Wordsworth.

Note: In Scripture, the term brother is applied to a kinsman by blood more remote than a son of the same parents, as in the case of Abraham and Lot, Jacob and Laban. In a more general sense, brother or brethren is used for fellow-man or fellow-men.

For of whom such massacre Make they but of their brethren, men of men? --Milton.

Brother Jonathan, a humorous designation for the people of the United States collectively. The phrase is said to have originated from Washington's referring to the patriotic Jonathan Trumbull, governor of Connecticut, as "Brother Jonathan."

Blood brother. See under Blood.

On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

friar

friar: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary